


An Imperfect Martyr

by Rosedelio



Series: Chiruno [4]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:56:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27443746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosedelio/pseuds/Rosedelio
Summary: Seiga kills Futo and frames Ichirin for it. Not only that, she has taken Rumia as a hostage. How will Cirno save her friend and prove Seiga is the true murderer?
Series: Chiruno [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727065
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I think of this story like a "season finale" to the Chiruno series. It makes references to the previous three stories, so you should read those first.

The courtyard of the Myouren Temple was filled with Buddhist and Taoist disciples. “To everlasting friendship!” Miko toasted. The audience cheered, except for Seiga. 

When the crowd dispersed into smaller groups, she walked over to Futo, Ichirin, and Unzan. “Futo, I wonder if this party was Lady Toyosatomimi’s idea, or if it was really yours.”

Futo gave a puzzled look. “’Twas the Crown Prince’s. Thou should not assume she is incapable of independent thought.”

“Of course not. I just thought the Futo who tried so often to burn this temple down would have objected to the idea rather than support it.”

“Well, unlike thee, I have been involved in resolving recent incidents. And that has caused Ichirin and I to become quite close. The same has happened with Byakuren and the Crown Prince. This party is the natural outcome to such events.”

Seiga glanced at Ichirin before laughing at Futo. “Ah, what a clever plan you have! It’s true what they say: ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’ I should have known; betraying people is your specialty!”

“N-no! ‘Tis not true!” Futo’s eyes teared up.

“Not true? Just ask anyone in the Mononobe clan. Or, better yet, ask Tojiko! She’s right over there.” Seiga pointed at the twin-tailed ghost floating by Miko’s side.

“B-but my friendship with Ichirin is genuine!” Futo hugged Ichirin and cried on her shoulder.

Ichirin patted Futo’s back. “I believe you.” She glared at Seiga. “I think you should leave.”

Seiga looked at Futo with fake pity. “Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said your plan out loud.”

“I said leave! Now!” Ichirin and Unzan readied themselves for a fight.

“Fine, fine.” As Seiga walked away, she said, “Futo, your ‘helpless little girl’ act will fool most people, but not me.” Seiga quickly found her loyal jiangshi standing by the food table. “Yoshika, we have to go home now.”

“Aw, but there’s so much good food here.”

Seiga turned around to see Futo still hugging Ichirin. Futo noticed her looking at them and stuck her tongue out. “Tch! You win today, Futo,” Seiga muttered. She turned back to Yoshika. “If that’s what you want. Just keep an eye on Futo and come back when she does.”

“I can do that!” Seiga patted her servant and returned home. 

At the Divine Spirit Mausoleum, Seiga went back into her room and read some Taoist texts. Eventually, she heard a knock at her door. “Come in!”

She looked up from her book to see that it was Miko. “I’ve heard that you made Futo upset.”

“Yeah, and she deserves it.”

Miko sighed. “If this is about the party, Byakuren and I were the ones who planned it.”

“I still can’t believe that you’ve given up on destroying the Buddhists.”

“We never had a chance. As great as the Taoist arts are, we’ve lost most of our fights. It’s better that we recognize each other as allies and equals rather than be wiped out to Senkai.”

“I think that’s a pessimistic take on the way things were going. I thought that Futo would have agreed with me on this. She hates Buddhism as much as I do. Instead, she supported you. Then again, I should have known better. It’s been this way ever since you and she were resurrected. She’s been trying to kick me out and make herself your only religious advisor. You may not be able to see through her sycophancy, but I can.”

“I can hear Futo’s true intentions just fine! Perhaps she was right; you’re more trouble than you’re worth.” When Seiga gave no response, Miko turned around to leave. Before Miko exited Seiga’s room, she said, “And, in case you were wondering, Futo genuinely desires friendship with Ichirin.”

Shortly afterwards, Yoshika entered the room. “Master, is something wrong? You look as pale as me!”

Seiga shook herself before replying. “Yes, there is, but we can fix that. In fact, I think we might be able to kill two birds with one stone.”


	2. Chapter 2

It had been months since that party. Yoshika had been helping Seiga a lot by angering Ichirin, or by pressing buttons on the “CD recorder.” Seiga told her that tonight would be when all their preparations would pay off.

After hours of waiting in the darkness, Seiga left her room and chiseled a hole into Futo’s. She entered and soon returned carrying Futo’s body. Yoshika recognized the sleeping seal on Futo’s forehead. Her master liked to use it whenever she would go stealing.

“She’s heavier than I thought,” Seiga muttered. “Yoshika, you’ll have to carry the CD recorder. Please don’t break it.”

“Ok!” Yoshika grabbed the device and the two flew out of Senkai and into some woods near the Myouren Temple.

“Now, patrol around this area while I take care of Futo. If you see anyone getting too close, bring them to me.”

“You can count on me!” The jiangshi left Seiga and kept going until she decided it was far enough to start circling around. Soon she heard Ichirin’s voice followed by Futo’s screaming. After a short while, she saw a dark figure heading towards Seiga. Yoshika decided to follow the shadow.

The figure got close to Seiga and stopped. That was when Yoshika attacked, shooting a few bullets and knocking the person to the ground. When the jiangshi approached her target, she saw that the figure was a blond girl. Yoshika grabbed and dragged her to her master.

When she arrived, Seiga stopped the CD recorder. Next to her was the bruised and bloody corpse of Futo. It was still blindfolded and tied to a tree. “Ah, good work Yoshika,” Seiga complimented. She turned her attention to the girl. “Say, you’re Rumia, right? One of Cirno’s friends?”

Rumia gulped. “Y-y-yes…”

“Why are you so afraid?” Seiga glanced at Futo’s body. “I’m sure you’ve seen worse than this, youkai.”

“Y-you’re gonna k-kill me. J-just like her…”

Seiga stroked Rumia’s cheek. “Oh, don’t worry. You’re more useful to me alive than dead.” She quickly pulled out a talisman and stuck it to Rumia. Her body quickly dissolved into smoke, which traveled into the talisman. Seiga picked up the seal and put it back into her dress.

As Seiga untied Futo, she ordered Yoshika to carry the CD recorder again. Along with Futo’s corpse, they flew to the entrance of the Myouren Temple. There, the hermit re-tied and blindfolded Futo to a nearby tree. Afterwards, Seiga grinned at her servant. “Now, let’s clean up and get some rest. We’ll have a busy day tomorrow!”


	3. Chapter 3

“Rumia! Where are you?!” Cirno called out as she flew above the trees. She was supposed to meet the ice fairy and the rest of their friends at the Misty Lake for a game of hide and seek. Instead, they were all searching for Rumia.

Soon, Cirno saw a large crowd at the Myouren Temple. Byakuren waved at her to come down. There, she saw rabbits surrounding Futo’s dead body and Miko crying nearby. Seiga and Ichirin were standing next to Byakuren while the rest of the temple residents were holding off the gathering crowd. “What happened here?”

Ichirin answered, “I left the temple just before dawn. Futo and I were going to watch the sunrise from the Youkai Mountain. That’s when I found her like this. I rushed back inside to notify Hijiri.” She glared at Seiga. “Of course, by the time we came out, she and Miko were here too.”

“Really? How did you and Miko get here so fast?” Cirno asked Seiga.

The hermit grinned. “I’ve been watching Ichirin for months. I always knew she was up to no good. And it looks like I finally caught her.”

“’Watching?!’ You and your servant have been provoking me every day.” Ichirin turned to Futo’s corpse. “And, I’d never do something so horrific to Futo.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll prove your innocence,” Byakuren replied. “Cirno, we’ve been debating for the past hour about whether it’s better to give Futo an autopsy or to resurrect her as a jiangshi. Seiga says that getting Futo’s testimony will be useful. I don’t know if Futo will come back like Seiga says she will or if she’ll be a mindless puppet, but if you’re investigating, perhaps that won’t matter.”

“Well, I’m trying to find my friend, Rumia, but I’m sure I can handle two cases at once.”

“Ah, excellent!” Seiga smirked. “I can think of no better fairy for this investigation than the one who found Orin’s killer.”

“Leave Nazrin out of this!” Ichirin shouted.

Seiga chuckled before calling to Miko, “Lady Toyosatomimi, get Tojiko! I’ll do the preparations.”

Miko got up and recomposed herself. “Yes, I’ll make the talismans too, just as you taught me. Thank you, Byakuren, for letting me do this. And thank you, Cirno, for your help. We’ll catch Futo’s killer soon.” With that, she flew away.

“Remember, Miko is the one to resurrect her, not you,” Byakuren noted.

“Of course. The only things I’ll do are prevent further decay and clean Futo up. Cirno can be my witness.” Seiga removed the blindfold and placed a talisman on Futo before untying and carrying her away. Cirno followed right behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

At the Myouren Temple Cemetery, Seiga and Cirno approached a waiting jiangshi. Beside her was Futo’s body on a flat patch of grass. “Good work, Yoshika,” Seiga said as she placed a bucket of water and a washcloth. “Creating a servant like her is just one of the many uses for Taoist arts.”

“So, this is what Futo will be like soon?” Cirno asked.

“Physically, yes,” Seiga replied as she cleaned Futo’s legs. “But mentally, I think Lady Toyosatomimi will have the better jiangshi. My Yoshika was a normal human and while her soul is in the afterlife, her body serves me. And, well, she can be absentminded at times. However, a shikaisen’s body and soul are much more closely linked. Given the amount of decay, I think she’ll have the mental capability of an elderly human. This is all theoretical, of course.” The hermit moved on to cleaning Futo’s arms.

“I hope you’re right. It’d definitely make solving this case easier if she could tell us who did it.”

“It will. Can you believe that Byakuren wanted to prevent us from doing this?” Seiga looked at Cirno. “Rather suspicious, don’t you agree?”

The ice fairy nodded. “I guess so. Though, even if Futo told me who did it, I’m still gonna investigate and make sure.”

“Ah, I see.” Seiga finished wiping Futo’s face and placed the washcloth into the bucket. “You know, we Taoists can also seal away youkai. And, once sealed away, a youkai is very easy to exterminate. I hope your investigation is thorough. It’d be best not to make any incorrect accusations.” Seiga smiled. Cirno felt very warm.

“Seiga! Tojiko and I are here!” Miko announced. “Have you finished your preparations?”

“I just did,” Seiga responded. “I cleaned her up as much as I could. Unfortunately, the bruises will stay around for a while. Now, I’ll remove the talisman I placed. Lady Toyosatomimi, you can place the preservation talisman anywhere you like on Futo’s body, but the resurrection talisman must go on her forehead. Once that’s done, Tojiko will shock her back to life.”

Miko and Tojiko followed Seiga’s instructions. After a bright burst of lightning, Futo’s arms shot up and her eyes opened. She looked around to see her fellow Taoists and Cirno surrounding her. “Crown Prince, thou hast rescued me! The yama was about to sentence me to hell!”

“Futo, you’re back!” Miko hugged her and cried. “You’re back.”

“Hey, Seiga and I helped bring you back too!” Tojiko commented.

“Of course, many thanks, Tojiko!” Futo turned to Seiga and frowned. “I suppose I must thank thee as well, Seiga.”

Seiga scoffed. “How ungrateful! This is the second time I’ve helped you extend your life.”

“I appreciate your actions, but I do not trust thy motives. I feel as though I am a pawn in one of your wicked schemes.”

“Well, you’ll be happy to know your Lady Toyosatomimi’s jiangshi, not mine. That was the condition for your resurrection by the Buddhists.”

“Good. Then I shall serve the Crown Prince as well as I had done in life.” Futo turned to Cirno. “Ah, ice fairy, what business doth thou have in all of this?”

“I’m here to help solve your murder!” Cirno proclaimed.

“Correct, I was murdered!”

“Can you tell me what happened yesterday?”

“Hmm, let me recall everything.” Futo closed her eyes and remained silent for a minute. Then she said, “Ichirin and I had made plans to watch the sunrise. I decided to sleep early. The next thing I remember was someone… torturing me. I could not see anything, but I heard Ichirin’s voice and how much she hated me. After that I was ferried across the Sanzu and being judged by the yama when I came back here.”

“You mean you don’t remember what happened between going to sleep and getting murdered?”

“No, I do not.”

“That memory must have decayed.” Seiga sighed. “A shame. Who knows what other memories she may have lost? Fortunately, she remembered her killer.”

“I just… wonder why,” Futo said. “The only times Ichirin and I ever argued were when she found a torch and accused me of planning arson.”

“Perhaps she mistook you for the arsonist,” Miko said. “I know she wanted to find and punish whoever was placing those torches. Cirno, what do you think?”

“Um, that is possible. And with all the evidence against her, Ichirin is the main suspect.”

“It’s settled then. We’ll confront Ichirin and get her to confess.”

Cirno looked up at the sky. “Sorry, but I gotta go. My friends and I are meeting up for lunch to talk about our search. Don’t want them to think I went missing too.”

“I see. Thank you again for your help. I hope you find Rumia soon.” Cirno only nodded before flying away.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, as she was flying near the Human Village, Cirno saw a barrage of bullets between Ichirin and Miko. Below them was a crowd of spectators. Within the crowd, she recognized Seiga and a crow tengu and landed near them.

The tengu had out her notepad and pen. “The big question I have is: Why did Miko decide to start fighting the Buddhists again?” she asked.

“Well, Ichirin wouldn’t confess, so we’re using our own methods to make her do so. We can’t simply wait for Cirno to confirm what we already know,” Seiga was telling the tengu. “Speaking of which, here she is!”

“Hey, Cirno,” the tengu greeted. “Are you investigating Futo’s murder?”

“Hi, Hatate! Yep, I am. What are you doing here?”

“I heard the Buddhists and Taoists are fighting again and I wanted to write about this event. This is something I’m sure Aya would have loved to cover.”

There was a moment of silence between her and Cirno before Seiga interrupted. “Whenever you’re done mourning for your friend, we can continue our interview.”

“Ah, right, sorry. Now, if I remember, you guys lost more battles than you won before you made peace. Why continue that pattern again?”

Seiga was visibly bothered by that question. “You know, after Nazrin murdered Rin, many of Lady Toyosatomimi’s followers began to question if it was still good to be friends with the Buddhists. And, with Ichirin’s murder of Futo and Byakuren’s cover-up of it, Lady Toyosatomimi really couldn’t sit still and do nothing. With righteous anger and the power of Taoist arts, we will start winning more fights.”

“I see. And, last question, what exactly will happen if Ichirin is found guilty?”

“Futo said she’d want her sealed away. I told Futo we should exterminate that backstabbing youkai. ‘An eye for an eye’ and all that. But I suppose she still cares about her.”

“Hatate, could I start asking Seiga questions now?” Cirno asked. “I wanna get some more details on what exactly happened yesterday morning.”

“Sure!” Hatate replied. “I was actually going to interview you about how your investigation was going.”

“Yes, ask away,” Seiga added.

Cirno nodded. “So, after looking at Futo’s body, I thought that the area around her would be… messier.”

“Maybe Ichirin beat her up somewhere else.”

“But then why bring Futo back? Wouldn’t Ichirin have noticed she was dead?”

“As Miko said, she only wanted to punish the arsonist, not kill her. Once she was satisfied, she brought Futo back to the temple and tied her up as a public warning. Unfortunately, Futo must have died of her wounds shortly afterwards.”

“But, Futo didn’t talk about that part yesterday.”

“Likely another memory lost to decay.”

“I see. You know, there’s also the blindfold that’s been bothering me.”

“How come?”

“When I think about blindfolds, I think about trying to hide something. Why would Ichirin need to use it? She already knows Futo knows it was her.”

“Another part of the punishment. It’s scary not knowing when the next hit is coming. Maybe Ichirin is crueler than you think.”

Cirno shrugged. “I guess so. You’re the expert on this stuff. I think based on what Ichirin said, this is all before you saw her. Now, what exactly did you see happen yesterday morning?”

“I overheard Ichirin’s plan to go sunrise watching and wanted to make sure Futo would be safe. So, I woke up early and went to the Myouren Temple. Just as I arrived, I saw Ichirin standing next to a limp Futo. I knew something was wrong, so I quickly want back to get Lady Toyosatomimi.”

“Did you notice anything else odd about Ichirin?”

“Not really. Was I supposed to?”

“I just thought that Ichirin would also have been bloody looking.”

“It was still too dark for me to tell. I only saw their figures.”

Cirno merely nodded. “I tried asking around for other witnesses, but it must have been too early because no one else saw or heard anything. Though, Rumia’s usually awake around that time. Maybe I’ll ask her when I find her.”

“Oh, I’m sure her testimony would be very important in proving Ichirin’s guilt.” The hermit smugly smirked.

At that moment, the crowd loudly cheered. Ichirin and Unzan were posing triumphantly in the sky. Hatate glanced at Seiga. “’The power of Taoist arts,’ huh?”

The hermit growled. “Miko is still distracted with grief and stress! I’ll show you! I’ll beat Ichirin myself!” Seiga flew away and challenged Ichirin to a fight.

“I was just teasing her.” Hatate shook her head and sighed. “Well, I’m going to see if Miko wants to talk. Do you want to come with me?”

“Sorry, but I need to meet with my friends for lunch. We’re still trying to find Rumia.”

“That’s fine. Good luck with your search!” Hatate and Cirno waved each other goodbye.


	6. Chapter 6

“Welcome to my home!” Miko opened the doors of the Divine Spirit Mausoleum and walked with Cirno inside. The ice fairy looked around at the colorful walls. Miko knocked on Seiga’s door and waited for a response. “Seems that she’s still out.”

“That’s fine. There’s actually something I wanted to ask you while she’s not here.”

“Certainly. What is it?”

“You can hear desires. Do you know if Seiga wanted to kill Futo?”

Miko nodded. “Though, to be fair, Futo felt the same towards her. Do you suspect –.”

“Oh, not at all! I was just wondering since it didn’t seem like they’re friends.”

Miko looked unconvinced. “I see. I suppose it’s one thing to have a desire and another to act on it.” She took a deep breath. “You know, I have my doubts about Ichirin’s guilt too. But, she’s the main suspect and I can’t do nothing lest my followers question my capabilities. I want to respect Byakuren’s wishes and wait for you to find the killer. However, I also want justice for Futo. I hope you find her killer soon, whomever she may be.”

After a few minutes of waiting, Seiga and Yoshika came through the front door. “Cirno, what are you doing here?” the hermit asked.

“You’re finally here! Yesterday, I was talking with Nitori and she told me about this cool new machine she was making. All you do is sit inside and tell it where you want to go, and then it’ll fly you there. And that’s not all! You can also –.”

“Yes, yes, get to your point.”

“Well, she also told me about how you stole her CD recorder a few months ago. I figured that since we know each other pretty well, I’d like to ask for it back.”

“Oh, of course. Please, come into my room. Yoshika, entertain Lady Toyosatomimi while we talk.” Seiga guided Cirno inside. “Feel free to look around.”

“Thanks, but I just want Nitori’s CD recorder.”

Seiga grinned as she opened a drawer and pulled out the device. “I suppose you’ll be listening to what I recorded. There’re just excerpts from various Taoist texts. I can lend you the books if you’d like to know more.” She gave it to the fairy. “It was a very handy tool.”

“Thanks,” Cirno replied.

As Cirno turned to leaved, Seiga said, “Cirno, I’m curious. I didn’t expect you and Nitori to be so friendly with each other. If what I’ve heard is correct, you’re the reason her crush hates her. Plus, she did try to kill you.”

“Well, I like her inventions and she likes showing them off to me. I guess we’ve kinda become friends cause of that.” Cirno paused for a moment. “In fact, I think I like all of the murderers I’ve met except for Futo’s killer.”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“By the way Futo was killed, I bet her killer enjoyed it. She’s also manipulative and likes to taunt about how much better she is. I don’t like someone like that.”

Seiga laughed. “My, you are a perceptive fairy!” She leaned closer to Cirno. “Just remember, the only crime I’m guilty of is stealing.” Cirno glared into her eyes before leaving the room.


	7. Chapter 7

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu was reading a newspaper. She looked to see the ice fairy walking dejectedly towards her. “Hello, Cirno. Is something wrong?”

Cirno laid down next to the shrine maiden. “Everyone’s counting on me and I’m gonna let them down.” She began to cry.

“Is this about Futo’s murder?”

Cirno nodded. “I know who the killer is, but I can’t do anything about it because she has Rumia as her prisoner. If I do anything, she’ll kill her too!” She sobbed even louder.

Reimu moved closer to Cirno, placed the fairy’s head on her lap, and stroked her hair. After a few minutes, Cirno sniffled and asked, “Reimu, why is sealing youkai a thing?”

“It’s for the times when exterminating the youkai would be too harsh but letting them go would be too risky. Of course, there’s always the danger that the youkai will break free. That’s always annoying to fix.”

“Really? How does that happen?”

“Usually the youkai stores up enough of their strength to break free through brute force. If it’s a good seal, you only have to worry about the very strong youkai doing that. Though, if the seal is prepared improperly, any youkai will eventually escape.”

Cirno got up and paced around. Then she stopped. “I think I have an idea! It’s risky, but I have to try it. Will you help me?”

“Sure. What do you want me to do?”

***

“Futo and I will be going to the Hakurei Shrine tomorrow,” Miko told Seiga. They were taking an evening walk in the Human Village. “Reimu wants us to stop the fighting. We’ll be meeting with Byakuren and Ichirin to discuss things further.”

“The Hakurei shrine maiden? Why would she care about this?”

Miko shrugged. “To be honest, I’m glad to have an excuse to stop this fighting. I can’t with good conscience harm Ichirin until I know for certain that she’s guilty.”

“Lady Toyosatomimi, are you really going to let another religion’s leader tell you what to do?”

“Seiga, in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been losing. It’d be better to take this opportunity to stop rather than admit defeat.”

“Maybe if you stopped worrying about guilt or innocence and focused on fighting, we’d be winning more!”

Miko glared at the hermit for a moment before replying. “If you’re going to object to the ceasefire this much, you can come with us and talk about it to Reimu herself.”

“Fine, I will,” Seiga replied. They walked for a few more minutes before she asked, “Will Cirno be there too?”

“I don’t know. Reimu said she only invited the four of us.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be too surprised if she shows up.” Seiga smirked. Tonight, she’d visit Cirno and give her an ultimatum: Ichirin’s guilt or Rumia’s life.


	8. Chapter 8

Miko, Futo, and Seiga landed at the Hakurei Shrine. Inside, Reimu, Ichirin, and Byakuren were already sitting at the table, with Unzan floating behind them. Hatate stood in a corner with a pen and notepad out. “What are you doing here?” Seiga asked.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” the tengu replied. “I heard about the ceasefire talks and thought it was an event worth covering.”

Miko and Seiga seated themselves while Futo grumbled and stood next to Miko. “Now, the truce negotiations can begin,” said Reimu.

“Reimu, you won’t believe this!” Cirno shouted as she ran into the room. She looked around and slowly backed away. “Oh, sorry. I’ll come back later.”

“Please, join us,” said Seiga. “We’d appreciate your input on Ichirin’s guilt.”

“I’d like to, but Rumia’s waiting for me outside.”

Rumia peeked inside and pointed at Seiga. “Hey, that’s her! The hermit I was talking about!”

“Really? I’m sure Seiga would like to hear your story, too!”

Rumia entered the room and stared Seiga in the face. “One night I was just flying around when Seiga attacked me and sealed me away. Cirno said it was so she could take me as a hostage. I spent days trying to break out and I finally did last night.” Rumia flexed her muscles. “It’s a good thing I’m super strong!”

Reimu laughed. “Or maybe those Taoist seals are very weak.”

“After watching your fights this week, I’m not surprised,” Hatate added as she jotted a few notes down.

“I won’t tolerate this slander!” Seiga shouted. She pulled out a glowing talisman and slammed it on the table. “There! There’s the real Rumia! And she’ll stay there for at least a thousand years!” The hermit grinned at Cirno only to see the fairy smiling back and Nue in Rumia’s spot. She tried to get the talisman back, but it was already in Reimu’s hands.

“Let’s hear what the _real_ Rumia has to say,” Reimu said. She chanted a prayer and the talisman burned into black smoke.

The smoke gathered over the table and materialized into Rumia. Cirno knelt next to her and gave her a hug. “Rumia, you’re safe!”

“I am…” Rumia replied. Then she angrily pointed at Seiga and shouted, “Murderer!”

“Tell us what happened.”

“The night I was captured, I heard Ichirin and Futo shouting. When I got closer, I saw that it was her who was killing Futo. That’s when her servant attacked me, and she brought me to her. And then I got sealed away.”

“Seiga used one of Nitori’s machines to make Futo think it was Ichirin,” Cirno added. “That’s cause killing Futo wasn’t the main goal. It was to make you guys to fight again.”

All eyes were on Seiga. “Rumia was the one who attacked me! And, sure, sealing her away was disproportionate, but she made up that entire story while she was imprisoned. Cirno is just adding stuff because I kidnapped her friend.”

Miko drew her sword and swung, stopping near the hermit’s neck. “I’m tired of your lies, Seiga! You can either confess here, or to the yama!”

Seiga sighed. “Fine. Cirno was right. I did kill Futo and the only reason I helped bring her back was to make our factions fight again. I was hoping we would win, but unfortunately that was not the case.”

Miko sheathed her sword. “Futo, what do you think should happen next?”

Futo grinned at Seiga. “Thou had said thyself ‘an eye for an eye,’ but I shall be merciful and stop before the killing and resurrecting part. Ichirin, I require thy assistance with this.”

Ichirin cracked her knuckles. “It’ll be my pleasure!”

“B-but you said you’d never do something like that!” Seiga objected.

“To Futo,” Ichirin corrected. “To you? After everything you put me through for the past few months? There’s nothing I’d like more.”

“Byakuren, surely you won’t allow Ichirin to do this?!”

“If this must be done for the sake of peace between our factions, so be it.”

“Tojiko and I will help you pack your things when they’re done,” Miko added.

Seiga tried to get up and escape, but Nue and Unzan caught her and dragged her out of the shrine. Miko, Futo, Ichirin, and Byakuren followed them. “No! Let me go! Noooo!” Seiga yelled as she struggled to break free.

“Hey, you better not be doing this at my shrine! I don’t want to clean up that mess!” Reimu shouted.

Hatate sighed. “I guess that for the sake of getting the full story, I should go too. Are you two coming as well?”

“Yeah!” Rumia replied. “I wanna that meanie get punished.” She turned to Cirno. “Then we can meet up with our friends and play hide and seek like we were supposed to.”

Cirno laughed. “After this week, I don’t think any of us want to play hide and seek for a while. Maybe we should play tag instead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to javi-lso for looking over this story.


End file.
